Who are Cheat Days For?

I do not do cheat days though I have certainly considered it! My husband is doing this program with me so I feel extra accountable now that I know he is watching me too! I still allow myself treats but I just keep them low cal and within my daily calorie count.

I think your answer is the best one. I did Weight Watchers for several years and they intentionally buily in extra "points" to allow you to plan out your week and budget your calories so you can splurge once in awhile and not feel deprived. It worked for me. I agree with the "cheat meal" though and not a whole day, because it can get totally out of control and then spill over to the next day, especially if it's a weekend. Bottom line is we need to be working towards a lifestyle change and that means being able to adapt and make wise choices over the long haul not just daily.

I don't have cheat days but allow treats every now and then. At the wkend OH and I will have a nice meal couple of glasses of wine and sometimes pud, but then for the rest of the wk Im good and it helps motivate me to carry on. On saturday I've got friends coming round for a girly evening, we're having chips from the chippy and choc trifle, so I will just enjoy it and be good for the rest of the wk and prob try and do some more excercise

I do have cheat days but they are more for others then myself. It is hard on my family to be restrictive all the time. if they want to go out to eat they don't like me stressing about it. yes it does slow me down some but I'm still learning how to incorporate my life style change to a sustainable level for the long term. This is more then a diet so for me i have to figure out how to balance eating and working out so that the need for a cheat day isn't needed because my habits have changed enough that a single day is not going to mess me up in the long run.

^^This^^ :flowerforyou:

What do people define as "cheating?" Going over you calories one day? Eating some not so healthy foods but staying within your calories? I do both of these things from time to time and I don't view them as cheating.... just as part of the plan. This is a lifelong commitment for me and It's impossible for me to make perfect choices all the time. Also, a lifetime without treats sound dreadful!

.....I guess it depends a lot on peoples personalities too. I have a lot of self control when it comes to food so I can easily sit down and have 1 serving of chips or 1 cookie and be ok with that. If you have binge tenancies I suspect it would be a whole different story.

I don't have a cheat day but I do eat at my projected maintenance level once a week. As i get closer to my goal I will incorporate more maintenance days. I do this to learn how to eat at maintenance and to reign in the weight loss. Even with the weekly 2,000 to 2,200 calorie day I am still loosing 1.5 to 2 pounds each week, so it definitely isn't a cheat day.

I don't know what a "cheat" day is, when in reality it's just an increased consumption of calories. Would it still be considered "cheating" if I went over my daily goal by 500 if it was 500 calories of vegetables? I think the word "cheat" gives the reality of what it is, a negative connotation. People could easily be within, or under, their daily calorie goal eating pork rinds and twinkies every few hours. I don't see the necessity to label extra consumption as something that should be frowned upon.

Besides, creating subconscious guilt about particular foods or calories that you're putting into your body, will only cause stress, in which case -can- hinder weight loss. If I'm going to have an increased caloric intake day, I will log it, make note of the results, then use those results to motivate and initiate the proper succeeding steps necessary to have those results turn to my favor.

I look at everything objectively, so maybe that's a plus for me not to create negative perspectives on anything. There's always a different perspective.

I don't know what a "cheat" day is, when in reality it's just an increased consumption of calories. Would it still be considered "cheating" if I went over my daily goal by 500 if it was 500 calories of vegetables? I think the word "cheat" gives the reality of what it is, a negative connotation. People could easily be within, or under, their daily calorie goal eating pork rinds and twinkies every few hours. I don't see the necessity to label extra consumption as something that should be frowned upon.

Besides, creating subconscious guilt about particular foods or calories that you're putting into your body, will only cause stress, in which case -can- hinder weight loss. If I'm going to have an increased caloric intake day, I will log it, make note of the results, then use those results to motivate and initiate the proper succeeding steps necessary to have those results turn to my favor.

I look at everything objectively, so maybe that's a plus for me not to create negative perspectives on anything. There's always a different perspective.

You are exactly right, "Cheating" brings on guilt and stress which is terrible for weight-loss. It's a "Spike Day", spike metabolism, spike mood, and you'll also spike your weight-loss.
It's completely guilt free, and to do it right you just need a surplus of calories for one day. It can be junk food or it could be clean food. Personally I'm eating donuts, pizza, and ice cream every Spike Day but you don't have to.

Damn straight, Russell. I believe in spiking too. It's a culmination of every food across the board from romaine lettuce all the way to BBQ brisket and beef ribs. Sweet baby jesus I love me some beef ribs. MMmmmm.

I don't know what a "cheat" day is, when in reality it's just an increased consumption of calories. Would it still be considered "cheating" if I went over my daily goal by 500 if it was 500 calories of vegetables? I think the word "cheat" gives the reality of what it is, a negative connotation. People could easily be within, or under, their daily calorie goal eating pork rinds and twinkies every few hours. I don't see the necessity to label extra consumption as something that should be frowned upon.

Besides, creating subconscious guilt about particular foods or calories that you're putting into your body, will only cause stress, in which case -can- hinder weight loss. If I'm going to have an increased caloric intake day, I will log it, make note of the results, then use those results to motivate and initiate the proper succeeding steps necessary to have those results turn to my favor.

I look at everything objectively, so maybe that's a plus for me not to create negative perspectives on anything. There's always a different perspective.

You are exactly right, "Cheating" brings on guilt and stress which is terrible for weight-loss. It's a "Spike Day", spike metabolism, spike mood, and you'll also spike your weight-loss.
It's completely guilt free, and to do it right you just need a surplus of calories for one day. It can be junk food or it could be clean food. Personally I'm eating donuts, pizza, and ice cream every Spike Day but you don't have to.

Damn straight, Russell. I believe in spiking too. It's a culmination of every food across the board from romaine lettuce all the way to BBQ brisket and beef ribs. Sweet baby jesus I love me some beef ribs. MMmmmm.

I'm curious -- I've seen mostly men on the boards talking about spike days. I wonder if it works as well for women, who have slower metabolisms and aren't looking to build as much muscle?

I don't know what a "cheat" day is, when in reality it's just an increased consumption of calories. Would it still be considered "cheating" if I went over my daily goal by 500 if it was 500 calories of vegetables? I think the word "cheat" gives the reality of what it is, a negative connotation. People could easily be within, or under, their daily calorie goal eating pork rinds and twinkies every few hours. I don't see the necessity to label extra consumption as something that should be frowned upon.

Besides, creating subconscious guilt about particular foods or calories that you're putting into your body, will only cause stress, in which case -can- hinder weight loss. If I'm going to have an increased caloric intake day, I will log it, make note of the results, then use those results to motivate and initiate the proper succeeding steps necessary to have those results turn to my favor.

I look at everything objectively, so maybe that's a plus for me not to create negative perspectives on anything. There's always a different perspective.

You are exactly right, "Cheating" brings on guilt and stress which is terrible for weight-loss. It's a "Spike Day", spike metabolism, spike mood, and you'll also spike your weight-loss.
It's completely guilt free, and to do it right you just need a surplus of calories for one day. It can be junk food or it could be clean food. Personally I'm eating donuts, pizza, and ice cream every Spike Day but you don't have to.

Damn straight, Russell. I believe in spiking too. It's a culmination of every food across the board from romaine lettuce all the way to BBQ brisket and beef ribs. Sweet baby jesus I love me some beef ribs. MMmmmm.

I'm curious -- I've seen mostly men on the boards talking about spike days. I wonder if it works as well for women, who have slower metabolisms and aren't looking to build as much muscle?

It absolutely does, my definition of a Spike Day calorie wise is 2X (BMR) and BMR is individualized. It does help build muscle of course but the main purpose is to spike up metabolism.
Part of metabolism is simply the metabolizing of food so when we eat less it slows down a bit, and when you eat more it spikes up. Studies have shown that it goes up more with overeating than it goes down with under-eating which makes dieting with a spike day extremely amazing.

Very interesting...thank you guys so much for the input. I'm new to this also, and any advise I can get from people who are well into their goals is truely appreciated.

I don't really even consider what I'm doing dieting. I've been on it for a week and lost 2lbs. I eat what we have (My family is poor, so we never have a lot) and I usually stay under the goal. Today I had a cupcake I made for my best friend's birthday, it was 272 calories and I don't feel bad about it. But I exercise quite a bit, I burn about 200+ calories a day just running up and down the stairs to class all the time (I'm always late...ALWAYS).

I feel like counting calories works better for me because I don't have the means to really diet. Like cut everything out and start eating practically nothing like I did on Atkins. I feel like this means I can relax a little bit and just count the calories I consume. Because honestly, most of the time in my house we starve.

I might do a cheat meal or 2 if I was in maintenance.
For me I'm just starting and I want results more.

If I wanna eat something a bit naughty, I find a way to work it into my calories for the day.
I love Reese's PB cups and candy bars, but instead of getting them at 270+ calories, I found some at 170 calories: 3 musketeers truffle crisp, and the Easter Reese's eggs.

I know I will want to have a few drinks Saturday night, so I'm putting in some extra time at the gym, and I'm figuring in advance what I want to drink and what it will take to burn it off.

I try each day to get the fiber, calcium, protein, etc that I need and the proper amount of vegetables, then if I wanna have something that's considered junk, I just work it in. If I go over by say 25 calories or even 50 I'm not gonna sweat it, but so far I've not gone over by more than say 20 calories.

I feel that works better for me than a cheat day. If I ever did "cheat" I don't consider it "cheating". Seems like such a negative thing for it... I just log everything, and if one day I go over by 500 calories so be it - I just don't do it often at all. I aim to have 95% of my days at or just under my calorie allowance.

So my advice is, if you want that doughnut, have it, log it, then try to make up for it during workouts. I also think pre-planning is good - going out is the worst for me, so if I look up the website for the restaurant, I can make a better choice without feeling deprived, do an extra mile or 2 and it's not so bad.

i let life take care of cheat days for me. if i'm having an especially awful day i might allow myself a few more calories. or if i meet with friends i'll allow myself to eat out without worrying as much.

i don't really cut out bad things from my diet completely, but instead i have them in much smaller portions, significantly less often.

Exactly. Well said.

I don't have a "cheat day". I WANT my weight off BAD! But I do allow myself some extra goodies IF I work for them! Gotta burn some calories to earn some extra!